


short little things

by Ibijau



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Everybody Lives, F/F, F/M, Fem Kili, Ficlet Collection, Light BDSM, M/M, Modern AU, Sibling Incest, Trans Female Character, Trans Kili, fem Ori
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:32:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3667689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ibijau/pseuds/Ibijau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(very) short stories</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. cold hands in the rain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Veraverorum (your_Mother)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/your_Mother/gifts).



Fili was just starting to fall asleep to the sound of heavy rain around them, when something icy found its way under his clothes and made him squawk. He turned his head, ready to scold his brother for behaving like a ten years old, but Kili wasn’t there. Instead, huddled close to the prince’s back and grinning like a cat, was Nori.

“Anyone ever told you that you’re loud?” Nori asked, grin widening.

Fili grunted, and turned to face the other dwarf.

“You, more than once, but it’s the first time it happens because you make me cold. And where’s Kili?”

Nori shrugged, and pointed at the spot where his brothers were sleeping.

“We exchanged places. He said you snore.”

“And he kicks, that’s hardly better. Well, freezing hands might be worse though.”

Pretending to be deeply hurt by that remark, Nori wriggled closer.

“Not very kind of you, that,” he pointed out, his hands somehow finding their way to Fili’s ass. Which shouldn't have been a surprise, the prince thought. Nori’s hands always found their way there. “I’m just a poor dwarf, trying to keep warm on a cold, cold night.”

Fili’s clever answer to that was cut short when Nori’s hands stopped being on the pants that covers his ass, and instead sneaking under the fabric, like icicles against warm flesh. The sound he made then was anything but princely, and loud enough to make a few of the other dwarves around them grumble.

“You will pay for this,” Fili hissed, pulling Nori closer to him.

“Oh, no, I am so very scared,” Nori retorted, squeezing the prince’s ass and kissing him.

 

 


	2. first meeting

The girl was waiting for the tube again. Tall. Dark. Handsome. Frowning over a book that appeared to be advanced chemistry. At least, Ori supposed so. She was doing an art degree, and she didn’t care about chemistry unless it came to the composition of the paint she bought. If that even counted. Dark and Handsome would probably think it did not.

Or maybe she would. She seemed like a fun girl, when she was not working for exams. She often smiled or even laughed at her phone, and some evenings Ori could see her come home with a bunch of friends who all seemed to like her (none of whom appeared to be a significant other)(not that Ori was checking). Dark and Handsome also had a great eye for colour. Her outfits were always bright and flashy, but never mismatched or painful to the eye.

Sometimes, Ori thought about using that as an ice breaker. Girls did that, didn’t they? Compliment strangers about their clothes. She’d seen it done sometimes, and envied how easy and natural it was to some people. She’d never do that, but she thought a lot about it. She’d go near Dark and Handsome, compliment the skirt of the day, maybe comment that she’d noticed how well dressed she always was... someone as easy going as that girl would then certainly start a proper discussion. Then they would realise that they were getting off at the same stop, and lived one street apart. Dark and Handsome would suggest they should have coffee together sometimes, or even directly invite Ori to her flat, and then...

Ori shook her head, blushing. That was what too many romance novels did to you, she scolded herself. You started thinking about strangers taking you to their home and pushing you against their door to kiss you within an inch of your life.

Not that she’d have anything against Dark and Handsome kissing her. Or ripping off her clothes and throwing her on the nearest flat surface to have her wicked way with her. On the contrary, these all seemed like excellent idea. The problem was... the problem was...

A hand on her shoulder made Ori jump on her seat. She almost startled again when she saw Dark and Handsome right next to her, a concerned smile on her far too pretty face.

“Hey, train’s here,” Dark and Handsome said. “Come on, we’ll miss it if we don’t run!”

Ori looked ahead. The bell signalling that the doors were about to close rang. On pure instinct, Ori leaped out of her seat, grabbed Dark and Handsome’s hand, and somehow managed to get both of them in the train at the last second.

“You sure are fast,” Dark and Handsome chuckled breathlessly. “Hey, I’m Kili by the way. Nice to meet you!”

Ori smiled, and gave her name.

This was not the start she’d fantasised about, but it was still a fairly good one, all things considered.

 


	3. power of a crown

The treasure room was large. Very large. Enormous. People standing at one corner of it could not see if anyone was at the other end. They probably couldn't hear anyone standing that far away either. Fili wasn't sure why he was thinking of that all of a sudden.

Well, that was a lie.

The fact that Nori was lying seductively on a blanket in a remote corner of the room, Thorin's crown on his head... that probably explained Fili's current awareness they were as good as alone.

Gold looked good on Nori.

Then again, pretty much anything looked good on Nori. Silk. Rags. Jewels. Dresses. Nothing.

Nothing was something that looked particularly good on Nori, especially when he let his hair down.

“Like what you see?” Nori purred.

Fili grinned, and nodded.

“You know I do. Thorin might be a tad less happy to see where his crown has gone though.”

Nori just shrugged, as if the king's mood was of no consequence to him. Fili wish he could have cared as little, but his uncle...

His uncle became the last of his worries when Nori started unbuttoning his tunic, slowly, staring right at the prince. Here and there Fili could catch glimpses of knives, although that not as interesting as the patches of naked skin he could almost see through the gaps in Nori's shirt, when he bent the right way. It was very tempting to come closer and rip that shirt open, but there was also something enjoyable about watching Nori undress himself.

Beside, not reacting might making Nori try a little harder to catch his attention.

“You know, I'm wearing a crown,” Nori said as he reached the last button of his tunic, as if the idea only hit him then. “Last I checked, that meant I can make anyone do anything I like.”

“That's not quite how it works,” Fili laughed. “Although with how uncle's been acting lately, I can see why you would think that.”

“No talking about your uncle,” Nori warned, pulling a face. “Not unless you want me to have a broken hammer.”

Fili laughed again, the laugh of someone who knew first hand that it would take a lot more than that to ruin Nori's horny moods.

“I am so very sorry, _your majesty_ ,” the prince said. “How may I serve you and be forgiven?”

“Ooh, I like that,” Nori preened. “Your majesty, and serve me. That's sweet music to my ears. Come here, and kneel by me. I'm sure I'll find some use for you. And if you try very _hard_ , I might forgive you.”

One last time, Fili checked around, to make sure that nobody was close. He could hear Kili somewhere, a distant laughter (probably trying to catch Ori's attention, but thinking about that was amost as bad as thinking about Thorin). They were alone enough. Fili took a few steps and knelt by Nori's side, carefully looking down and trying to appear humble.

“And what now, your majesty?”

 


	4. good girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for, well, sex

Kili moaned softly, trying to keep her hips still. She had been told not to move, and she wanted to be good, but it was not easy. It was so tempting to rub her clit against the sheets, and move against the finger inside her... 

“Don’t even think about it,” Ori whispered to her ear. “If you move again, I’ll have to give you a spanking, and then fuck you without letting you come.”

“No, please, I’ll be good!”

“Of course you will be,” Ori replied, lovingly kissing her temple. “You are always so good. Now, do you feel ready for another finger?”

Kili nodded desperately. She’d been ready for a while already, but Ori liked to take his time with her and to tease her until she was almost out of her mind and...

She moaned again, louder, as a second finger found its way inside her and quickly found its way to her prostate. It was even harder yet to stay still, the pleasure ever growing with each movement of the fingers, but Kili managed it. After all, it was the only way she could hope to get something even better than  _fingers_.

 


	5. of dragons and beer

This time, Nori's hands were tied much tighter than ever before. He was, in fact, starting to lose sensation in them, which he might have protested about, if he had not also been chained to a rock and sitting in front of a dragon.

“Well, this is awkward,” the dragon said.

Nori agreed of course. This whole thing was bullshit. Oh, sure, a dragon had come to live nearby, so there had to be a sacrifice to appease it, right? And might as well take the chance to get rid of someone who was a little too clever, but not smart enough to keep his mouth shut about what he knew.

Nori had never quite grasped the concept of secrets, and he'd never seen the point of blackmail either.

Which had brought him there. Chained to a rock. At the feet of a dragon. And to add insult to injury, there was something a bit off about that dragon. Oh, sure, it was very big, and had long, sharp looking teeth. Its golden scales were rather magnificent, and it had a very impressive wingspan. It should have been stupendous and strike fear in the heart of Nori. But it didn't.

Maybe because it was saying things like 'well, this is awkward' when Nori had rather expected something along the line of 'roar, I am going to devour you, you puny snack'. There was something very distasteful about being killed by a dragon who tried to appear guilty about it. If you couldn't eat people while laughing evilly and enjoying your cruelty, then there you shouldn't do it at all, that was what Nori always said.

Well, maybe not always. But that was what he would have always said if he'd had to thought about it and had been asked his opinion on that matter several times.

“Look, I never asked for this,” the dragon explained. “There was a bit of a misunderstanding. I don't do that stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“You know. Terrorizing small countries. Devouring virgin princesses by threatening with death and fire. That stuff is so backward. My great-grand father used to do it, and he died killed by some little peasant with a shiny sword, and that's no way to go.”

Nori's eyebrows rose.

“A dragon killed by a peasant?”

The dragon shrugged.

“Well, we learned later that the peasant was actually a long lost prince of a faraway kingdom, and we all know how these things go. You can't fight against the narrative. Besides, great-grand father was bonker, and no one really liked him. Not saying that someone gave away his weak spot, but this whole thing is pretty suspicious.”

“Oh, really?” Nori asked, feeling curious in spite of himself.

“Yes. Stole everyone's hoard, that's what the old lizard did. And stealing from mammals is one thing, but from other lizards it's like... well, you know that thing you mammals have against kissing people of the same clutch as them? Stealing a dragon's gold is a bit like that. Are your hands okay?”

The dragon sounded worried, and Nori looked down. He wished he hadn't. His fingers were turning a rather nasty shade of purple.

“If you're not going to eat me, it'd be nice if you freed me,” Nori admitted.

“Oh, sure,” the dragon replied, lowering its head and carefully biting through the handcuffs. “I'm very sorry about that whole thing. It was a misunderstanding. I don't eat people. Well, not unless they tried to kill me first.”

Nori tried to bring back some blood in his hands by rubbing them together. The returning feeling was like being pricked by thousands of needles, but it was better than numbness.

“Might as well tell you I'm not a princess then,” Nori hissed, fighting the pain. “I'm not even a girl. And certainly not a virgin, half the town can testify on that. And if you didn't ask for a sacrifice, can I ask how I ended up here?”

The dragon looked away, its wings fluttering slightly. Nori was no expert on dragons and their body language, but he had a sudden impression of embarrassment.

“Look, it's very silly,” the dragon grunted. “It's... Did you know that some dragons can disguise themselves as humans?”

“Yeah, I've heard that one.”

“Well, I'm one of them. And I... well, humans are fun to be around. You lot have beer. Beer is nice. Trouble is, dragons aren't really equipped to handle alcohol.”

“You mean you get pissed faster than a twelve years old,” Nori translated.

The fluttering of wings increased. Definitively embarrassment then.

“I talk too much when I drink,” the dragon confessed. “And last week, when I was in town, I heard people talking about... well, me. But me as a dragon. And I had maybe drunk a bit too much, so I started saying I knew the golden dragon, and that it had a taste for...”

It hesitated for a moment. Nori did not press for more, certain that it would come anyway.

“I said the dragon has a taste for eating people out,” it grumbled, “and obviously, people didn't understand it quite the right way.”

Nori tried not to laugh. He really tried. He had probably never tried so much. But his brain just couldn't hear about a dragon who got drunk from two beers before claiming its own talent at oral sex and not react. He was only human.

“Not funny,” the dragon grunted.

“Very funny,” Nori protested, gasping for breath.

“Maybe a little,” the dragon admitted, showing teeth in a way that was almost certainly a smile. “Well, sorry for the trouble I caused you. Anything I can do for you?”

“Don't know. Let me see your human form, and if you're not too ugly, I might want to put your skill to the test. You know. So that I still get eaten by a dragon and all.”

The dragon showed more teeth, and in the blink of an eye it disappeared. Staying in its place was now a young man, with bright golden hair and skin. He was not too ugly. He was, in fact, extremely pretty. Nori smiled at him, and the young man answered with a smirk full of sharp teeth.

Oh, yes. Getting eaten by a dragon might be fun after all.

 


	6. Ori/Nori - demanding omega

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ori is in heat and will get what he wants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the muse was in the mood for some abo things, and who am I to refuse her? uwu

Nori's hips bucked up as his fingers dug into his brother's hips. Ori, bless him, curse him, was bouncing on Nori's dick, moaning shamelessly. His hands were on his big brother's shoulders, forcing him to lie down and let Ori fuck himself to his heart's content. It was the first day of his heat, and Ori was always so bossy at that point, wanting to have as much control as possible. Nori was usually more than happy to allow it, never moving except to thrust up. But he was getting close now, which was both wonderful and terrible.

“Ori, you... I'm almost there, Ori, you have to...”

Nori's voice broke into a loud groan as Ori's pace quickened, skin slapping against skin.

“I you don't stop that I'm going to end up knotting you,” Nori pleaded.

“Yes,” his little brother gasped, and Nori whined.

There were dwarves who could think straight even during their heat, but Ori was not one of them. Most of the time he was a sensible boy, who knew that there were so many reasons why it would be terrible if he got with child when he'd chosen his own brother as his alpha. But when his body took over, he no longer cared, begging to be fucked hard and fast, to be filled with seed, to fill Nori's knot keeping them together...

Nori tried to resist the temptation, tried to be sensible when his little brother couldn't. But Ori was stronger, rendered desperate by his heat... and greatly helped by the effect he had on Nori.

He wanted to resist, he really did, because they'd be in such trouble if... but Ori was so tight and slick and good around his cock, his smell so heady, his skin so soft even drenched in sweat and...

Ori bent down to kiss him, messy and wild and needy.

Nori wanted to resist, wanted to be good.

Nori wanted to resist, but how could he have, with such a perfect omega?

 


	7. Nori/Fili - inconvenient heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fili's heat is starting earlier than expected and it's not good

“We're in public,” Nori hissed desperately. “How did you start you heat cycle now?”

Fili, of course, blushed. It was probably due to arousal more than embarrassment though. The prince wasn't just starting his heat, Nori realised as he took a deep breath only to be hit again by the sweet smell of his omega. For it to be so strong already, it must have started an hour or two earlier. Fili had been in his uncle's council then, and now they were... at some sort of public event. Nori rarely bothered keeping track of these, only showing up because it would have been bad form for the future king's alpha to be absent, and because he wanted to make it very clear that Fili had an alpha indeed.

“I thought it wouldn't start until next week,” Fili whispered, trying to keep his voice even. “I even made sure not to have anything important then, I moved all my appointments to this week, so I wouldn't have to worry... I'm sorry.”

And he did look sorry. Among other things. Nori couldn't help moving closer to better take in the delicious smell of the prince. He did keep his hands to himself, but he knew that wouldn't last long, not with the way Fili pressed against his side with a shiver. The dear, sweet prince was in perfect control of himself at all times, trained all his life to react the right way in any situation... but that had come with a price. Fili was always in control, but when his heat came, he became a selfish, needy creature who wanted everything he refused himself the rest of the time, and who wanted it now.

It was nothing short of a miracle that he hadn't started tearing down Nori's clothes yet.

“We've got to get out of here,” Nori grunted, one hand slipping possessively around Fili's waist, just in case any surrounding alpha could smell the prince's heat too. He could ignore Fili's state longer than the prince himself could resist it, but he was starting to feel affected too. He needed to have Fili, as soon as possible.

“We can't go,” Fili whined pitifully, rubbing himself against Nori as subtly as he could. “It's the opening of new library... is important... Have to make a speech in... in a moment...”

“Like that's gonna happen,” Nori grumbled, looking around until he found... “Come here, we gotta talk to your sister.”

The only answer he got was a small moan and a nod. Curse Fili's dedication to the kingdom, he should have looked for Nori as soon as he'd felt the first signs of his heat.

Nori managed to wriggle the two of them near Kili. She'd been cheerfully pretending to listen to her uncle's speech. The smell of her brother hit her before she saw them, and she pulled a face when she turned and realised where it had come from.

“Gotta go,” Nori grunted to her. “Tell your uncle. Heat started too early. She had to make a speech. Congrats, it's yours now.”

Kili grimaced and rolled her eyes, but did not protest. She'd grown alongside Fili, she knew how he got during his heat.

With this taken care of, Nori quickly dragged Fili away. The prince was panting by the time they got out of the room, and his smell was so strong that Nori could barely think of anything beside the imperious need to bury himself into the tight, slick warmth of the prince and...

They would not make it out of the new library.

“Hey, Fili, how do you feel about fucking between books?”

A lewd moan answered him, followed by the prince's hands tearing at the ties of his clothes. Nori let out a moan of his own, and pulled Fili toward a corner where they would be slightly less likely to be discovered.

 


	8. Ori/Kili - curse the hormones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili always thought she was a beta, untouched by the mess that plagues Alphas and Omegas  
> that is, until she met Ori

Kili had never really care about alpha and omega and anything of the sort. She'd figured she was a beta maybe, someone out of it, someone safe from all that trouble. Her brother was an omega, which seemed a horrible thing to be because every couple months, Fili had to go through the torture of heat. Not that alpha seemed to have it much better, with the way they were so driven to protect at any cost. Protect and possess out of sheer instinct, regardless of whether they liked an omega or not...

Kili as probably one of those rare betas, and she was quite happy with it.

Until the day she met Ori.

Ori was... well. He was nice. Funny. Clever. Pretty. Omega.

That last point had never been important before. Kili had always mostly recognised omegas from alphas based on behaviour rather than on smell and instincts, as most others seemed to do. She'd taken it as proof that she was a beta. After meeting Ori, she was forced to consider another option. Namely, that she'd taken a long while to mature and that, up until that point, she'd been like a child, and that she was now developing into an alpha.

It was inconvenient.

She liked Ori. He was a friend of her cousin Gimli, and she'd wanted to be his friend too, because Gimli was rarely so full of compliment about anyone, least of all other omegas. Kili still wanted to be Ori's friend. But she kept taking these deep breaths when she was around him, kept wondering about the taste of his skin and the feel of his mouth and how he would sound when they'd...

But they wouldn't. Just because he was an omega and she was an alpha... it wasn't enough to end up together. So Kili just suffered in silence. She could handle this. She could handle not even managing to be friend with Ori because she was scared of her own reactions. She could handle it all.

All, except Ori's heat.

Normally, Kili should never have been around Ori when that happened. Normally, omegas stayed home during their heat, either to wait until its end or to fuck it away with their partner. But Ori was still young, his heats were irregular, and one hit him one afternoon when he was on a trip to the surface with Gimli and Kili.

“I'll go back underground to get help,” Gimli decided when Ori grew feverish and his legs couldn't carry him a step further. “Kili, stay with him and protect him. I don't think there's any risk of an alpha finding him out here, but you never know.”

Suddenly, Kili regretted never telling them that she had declared as an alpha. It was still too early for her to be easily noticeable and she'd thought she still had time. So early in her sexual awakening, only very sensitive alphas or omegas in heat could have noticed her. But before she could tell Gimli that it'd be a far better idea if she were to go underground, her cousin was gone already.

It was going to be a difficult couple hours.

Ori was sitting under a tree, gasping and panting. Kili choose another tree right next to it, and forced herself to look away. Maybe if she couldn't see Ori, she could pretend this wasn't happening.

It didn't work. At all. Looking away didn't prevent her from hearing Ori's struggling breaths, the small moans he let out sometimes. And more important, she could smell him. Even with that little distance between them, Ori's skin smelled of warmth and sweetness and sweat and sex. Kili tried breathing through her mouth to avoid it, but the smell was so strong she could taste it.

She squawked when something heavy pressed against her side, and nearly fainted when she realised that it was Ori cuddling up to her.

“Too warm,” he whimpered. “So warm, I need... Please, I need...”

“Shh, it's okay,” Kili whispered, trying to gently push him away. “Gimli will soon be back with your family, and then you can...”

“Don't want family,” Ori mewled as he threw his arms around the princess's shoulders, and then nuzzled her neck. “Want you, just want you. Your skin feels good. Warm. Why do you feel so _good_?”

Basic biology, Kili wanted to answer, certain that Ori would never have wanted her in his normal state of mind. But she couldn't say anything because her own body was reacting too, her pearl growing hard in her underthings. She took a deep sniff at Ori's hair, the smell of him so strong and good, and he was in pain, he wanted her now so why shouldn't she have him when they both wanted it. It'd be so good to bury herself in him and make him cry in pleasure again and again until she would knot in him and...

And they'd be found like that, Kili's reason reminded her. And people would think she'd taken advantage of him, that she'd purposefully hidden that she was an alpha. She'd lose Ori's trust and friendship as well as Gimli's, and they'd be right to feel wary of her if she let her instincts win her over.

She wanted Ori, wanted him more than she'd ever thought it was possible to want someone. She wanted him even in her normal state and would do anything to have him...

Anything, but not that.

“You really need to get away from me,” Kili sighed plaintively, using all of her strength to push away the pleading omega. “You smell too tempting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't typically read abo (there's... so much of it that is rape-y that just... no) but these three things were... actually fun to write? orz I feel a bit weird about it because abo is one of those things I thought I'd never ever write, but I do love to prove myself wrong XD


	9. Fireworks - Fili/Nori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori is back from his travels with a surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trying to get back into writing more regularly with super short stuff daily, so, eh, having this

Fili knew of fireworks, though up until that point he had never believed in them. Bilbo’s tales of pictures drawn in the night sky with colourful fires had been amusing, but not exactly believable. 

At least, not until Nori came back from one of those mysterious travels he took every few months on Thorin’s orders, and his souvenirs included some dark little tubes of paper. 

“Saw those on the market back there,” he explained to Fili and his brothers, careful as ever not to tell them where that there was. “It was time for one of the big holidays so they were selling them all around. Made me think of Bilbo, and I figured it'd be a nice touch to a party.”

“Candies?” Ori asked, ever hopeful. 

“Magic mushrooms?” Dori suggested, showing a much better understanding of his brother's sense of fun. 

Sheaths, Fili vaguely hoped, after nearly six months of abstinence, although Nori might not have shown these to his family. 

“Fireworks,” Nori proudly announced. “I might not be as talented as our hobbit said Gandalf was but I like to think I could give you a decent show.”

He smiled triumphantly, but the other three remained dubious, each privately sorry that their guess had been wrong. Explosions in the dark didn't sound too fun, no matter how beautifully Bilbo had once described them. But Nori, generous soul that he was, did not hold their doubts against them. 

Fili was glad of that. 

Because when at last, the perfect conditions of a dark cloudless night and a fresh shipment of beer from Dale happened, Nori unleashed his pyrotechnic talent. He did not have Gandalf’s unlimited funds nor his magic to help him, but Nori still could have gotten some earnest compliments from Bilbo. 

Multicoloured lights exploded in the sky, so brilliant they put at shame the stars and moon with their red, green or white tones in the shapes of great flowers or silvery rain. 

It did not last long, because Nori always had to travel light, but it got him plenty of compliments. Many dwarves who knew him only in passing, admitted their surprise to see him so artistically oriented after all. Few of them seemed to realise that it made sense for Nori to take an interest in an art form that was both exceedingly dangerous and ephemeral by nature. It made sense to Fili though, in a way he could not quite vocalise. And since Nori had seemed so happy as everything around him exploded, Fili hoped, for the first time, that his lover would soon be sent on another mission East. 


	10. Gen - sunburn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwarves are not made for being out in the open

It was a warm spring morning and the sun was shining hard enough to feel like early summer. For some in the company, it was not a problem. Life had been harsh since the Calamity, and many more dwarves than usual had been forced to go in the open in broad daylight. Thorin and his relatives all knew the harsh bite of the sun, as did Nori who had not always had the luxury of being picky in his travelling periods. 

But for Dori and Ori, as well as for the Broadbeams, the sun came as a surprise. Bofur knew just enough to have brought a hat, but the heat still surprised him and he was often heard grumbling that some cloud cover  would be nice. Poor Bombur was one of the most affected: the sun hit directly over his bald spot and he turned quieter with each passing moment until Dwalin noticed him and gave him some advice. After this, Bombur was careful to keep his hood on, just like Dwalin himself did, and he made sure that Bifur was doing the same. 

When at last the day ended and they stopped for some dinner, it was a relief for everyone. They were all tired and thirsty, for more than they had been on any previous day of the journey. Ori, poor young thing, was revealed to have had an intense headache for the past couple of hours, but he hadn't wanted to disturb the company. He was given some water and ordered to sit down and rest, which might have embarrassed him if he hadn't been so unwell. Dori, who was hardly any better, was encouraged to keep his brother company. It spoke of how exhausted he was that he did not try to protest. 

They stayed to the side, joined after a little time by Bombur and Bifur who sat down silently and watched the others prepare for the night, silently envying their resistance to the sun. After a little while, Fili approached them, a little tin box in his hand, and sat with them. 

“I noticed you'd gotten pretty sunburned,” he told Dori, usually the paler of them, whose face was now a worrying shade of red. “I have this salve… It helps protect from the light, and it speeds the healing process too. Oin has some stuff too, but this will be more potent, I promise it.”

Dori silently took the box from the prince and opened it, revealing a thick salve with a sweet smell. He dipped a finger into it and careful applied a little product on his nose. The unexpectedly fresh sensation after a day of burning had him shuddering, and he managed to mumble some thanks to Fili before carefully applying the salve on Ori’s own burns. 

“One of you can keep it,” Fili offered. “I have some more anyway, because I always tend to burn for my first days outside. Kili’s lucky, she takes more after our father, but I'm pale as a mole’s ass…” he laughed, and the other four managed to smirk. “Anyway, try to keep your hoods on tomorrow if it's still that sunny. You'll get used to it after a while, but no need to make yourselves sick, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this feels unfinished it's because I didn't know how to finish it ahah


	11. Gen - camping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thorin helps the kids plan a trip

The shop was bigger than the ones Thorin remembered from his youth. It was also far more confusing, and his niblings’ excitement was not helping. They kept getting distracted by everything colourful or strange enough, as if they had forgotten the point of their presence. 

“Hey, I think that's a tent over there, no?” Kili shouted excitedly, point at the furthest part of the shop. 

“Looks big enough for an entire circus,” Fili retorted. “First one to reach it gets to pick music in the car!”

He started running, closely followed by his sister who was complaining everything was unfair. Thorin sighed and followed them at his own pace, glad that the two could still have this sort of innocent fun at their age. Even if they were here to prepare for their first holiday without their parents, they still were the same two adorable brats who laughed and ran everywhere. 

“What do you say of this one?” Fili asked when Thorin joined them again, showing the enormous tent that had first attracted them. “It looks comfy enough.”

“It looks expensive, and it will be hell to carry around. Didn't you say Ori had his own material?”

“Yeah, his brother Nori goes camping a lot apparently.”

Thorin nodded. He knew about Nori's camping trips. The whole extended family knew about those. All he could hop was that nothing too illegal would accidentally find its way to Ori’s hands. 

“You only need a tent big enough for the two of you,” Thorin told them. “You'll be walking almost every day, so it has to be light and easy to pack. You'll need bags too…”

“Mom is giving us her old ones,” Fili said. “We looked at them, they're still in good condition. She also managed to find stuff to cook and transport food in the attic, so that's something less to buy. We might need walking shoes though, unless you think our trainers…”

“Walking shoes it will be,” Thorin cut him. “It would be silly to ruin your little journey with bad shoes. And I'm sure we can find some reasonably priced one here.”

The siblings looked at each other, embarrassed now that money was being discussed. 

“You know, we can pay for some of it,” Kili offered. “We've put some money aside from our allowances, and we can…”

“This is a gift from me to you,”Thorin cut protested. “I want you to keep your money to have fun on your trip. Today, everything is on me, so don't worry about anything.”

He had money set aside for emergencies… And his niblings’ first grown up vacation was an emergency of a kind. Things had been tough for Dis since the divorce, even if she was reluctant to let him help, so he was glad for anything he could do. 

“Come on you two, let's look at these tents.”


	12. Fili/Nori - Barbecue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer ain't easy

“We could always go to your brother's,” Fili suggested, somewhat tentatively. 

“Ori lives in a flat even shittier than ours, it wouldn't work.”

“Your other brother, asshole.”

For a second Nori contemplated the idea, then grimaced in horror. 

“The point would be to have fun, can't do that with Dori around.”

“Maybe if he went on holiday and we offered to keep an eye on your mam…”

Nori raised a finger. “Number one: Dori doesn't go on holidays because money.” He raised a second finger. “Number two: if he went, he'd take mam with him.” A final finger. “Number three, and perhaps the most important: he'd never trust me with mam because he thinks I'm a reckless idiot who would taker her with me to parties rather than stay home for one fucking evening”

“In your defense, she looked like she was having a lot of fun,” Fili said, remembering the night they'd met. Mrs River might be old and sick, she'd flirted with half the boys present, a good third of the girls, and everyone non-binary. Then she'd made them all some very good pancakes. Best party Fili had ever been to. 

“Okay then, we could go at my parents’ place then.”

“Niet. Your mom fucking hates me.”

“She doesn't.”

“She called me a babylonian whore when she discovered we were together. Who even uses that as an insult anymore?”

“In her defense, there are better ways to discover your son his bi than by finding him blowing his boyfriend in his childhood bedroom.”

This day Fili had learned an important lesson. Namely that, as hot as the thrill of being discovered could make even the simplest acts, you always did run the risk of actually being discovered. Still, he was sure his mom was over it by now. 

Maybe. 

“Okay, maybe not my parents’ then. Don't we have friends who aren't poor and living in shitty places? Hey, didn't Bilbo say the other day that he'd done one last weekend with his folks.”

“He lives in the US. I'm black. We're gay. Also, in case you forgot, the entire reason we're looking for someone to have a barbecue at is because we are fucking poor. If I could afford a plane ticket to the land of guns and intolerance, I would put a fucking ad online and, like rent somebody's garden for a whole sunday. It'd be cheaper, and I'd have better chances of survival.”

That was a pretty good point, much to Fili’s annoyance. 

He sighed. Summer was a tough period for the penniless. 


	13. Gen (Balin&Bilbo) - Fireflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Balin gets woken up by a panicked Bilbo

Balin was half sleeping, his rest never getting deep since the wars for Khazad Dum, when he felt someone shake him urgently. He struggled to open his eyes, but once he recognised Bilbo above him, he woke up instantly. The hobbit had replaced him on watch duty, and the panicked look on his face did not bode well. 

“Is there a problem?” Balin asked in hushed tones. “Orcs ?”

“I don't know, but there's lights nearby and they're moving in odd ways…”

Not orcs then. They did not need torches in the dark. Not thieves either, as they would know better than to carry flames. Travellers then, but why go in the dark?

Balin stood up slowly, careful not to make any noise, and grabbed a sword in case there might be trouble. But when Bilbo took him to the place where he had seen the lights, a surprise waited for him. 

In front of them, in a dark field, hundreds of fireflies were moving in an intricate flying ballet, their soft green light appearing like stars fallen to a closer distance. It had been years since Balin had last seen them, and the sight reminded him of better, long gone times. 

“Is it dangerous?” Bilbo whispered urgently. “Should we get Gandalf? I've never seen anything like it, do you think it could be dark magic?”

“Nothing dark about these,” Balin replied, softly so he would not disturb the bugs. “If anything they are a miracle of life. Gandalf doesn't need to be disturbed, but I might tell Thorin. He was fascinated by these as a child.” He noticed the hobbit’s confusion, and chuckled. “These are simply insects. The Men call them fireflies. They are quite harmless, but very pretty, don't you find?”

“Are they really on fire?” Bilbo asked with all the eagerness of a curious child. 

“No, not at all. There are things that can shine without the help of fire. We find mushrooms and plants that do it in some underground caves. And aboveground, there are fireflies.”

For a little moment, they stood in silence, watching the delicate dance in front of them. More than once, Balin found himself sighing, his heart feeling almost too big for his chest. 

“I'm sorry I woke you up for nothing,” Bilbo said after a while. 

“Not for nothing, lad,” Balin protested gently. “Not for any danger, but it was not for nothing either, and I'm glad I got to see this.”


End file.
